Water Child
by lovesrainscent
Summary: Pastfic. Darkfic. Tsunade needs someone to whom she can confide her deepest, darkest secrets. Someone who will listen and not judge. Set just prior to the beginning of Tsunade's relationship with Dan.


**Title: Water Child**

**Author: **Lovesrainscent

**Pairing: ** Tsunade/Orochimaru (friendship)

**Rating: T**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto and do not stand to make any profit from posting this story.

**Summary:** Pastfic. Darkfic. Tsunade needs someone to whom she can confide her deepest, darkest secrets. Someone who will listen and not judge. Set just prior to the beginning of Tsunade's relationship with Dan, the sannin would be about sixteen.

**Water Child**

_"It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us." - Epicurus_

"Orochimaru, I need your help."

Orochimaru had been awake for a while now and knew that his blond teammate had climbed into his bedroom window and had sat perched on the sill for the longest time before uttering those simple words.

"You awake?" she prompted.

"You've just asked me for my help. Why would you do so if you didn't already know I was awake?" he answered looking at his clock and realizing it was slightly past midnight.

"Sorry," came the whispered reply. She kept her perch on his windowsill, poised as if to flee. "Will you help me?" she queried again.

"Help you to do...?" he started to ask _'what'_ when she cut him off.

"Look, just yes or no - will you help me?"

He scowled at her slightly. Patience was clearly a virtue lacking in their resident princess. He considered. With Jiraiya it would have been a risky proposition to answer in the affirmative. The oaf was capable of getting into spectacular amounts of trouble from which he frequently needed Orochimaru's help to extricate himself. Tsunade, however, seemed the safer bet.

"Sure. Fine. Whatever," he said, pushing back his covers and sitting up on the bed, legs crossed waiting for her to get to the point. The night was pleasant and warm, a soft breeze flitted through the window stirring Tsunade's hair slightly. In the moonlight he could see that her hands clenched tightly, gripping the sill. Crickets chirped outside but Tsunade herself didn't answer.

After what he judged was a more than reasonable amount of time had passed and no indication from her as to the exact nature of help she required, he ventured to ask, "Was it a rhetorical question?"

No answer.

"Tsunade?" brows furrowed, curiosity piqued. Something was clearly troubling her. That in and of itself was unusual. She was certainly Konoha's golden child, granddaughter of the first Hokage, talented and powerful in her own right. Not to mention spoiled rotten. What little trouble she'd managed to get herself into in the village during the years that he had known her, she'd usually managed to get _out_ of by merely batting her eyelashes and promising never to do it again. It was a powerful technique that he and Jiraiya had come to appreciate.

"I'm pregnant," she blurted out.

Tsunade could not have chosen two more surprising words to drop on him in the dead of night. In the dim light she saw his eyes widen slightly and she quickly turned to begin an intense study of the moon outside his window. Still, she was quietly glad she'd come to him instead of their other teammate because Orochimaru's simple reaction was about the amount of shocked acknowledgement she thought she could handle at the moment. Tsunade could only imagine Jiraiya's _over_reaction to such an announcement, not to mention the hundreds of questions that would undoubtedly follow.

She sat in stillness like a nightbird cringing at the possible list of questions he could throw her way - _who was it? how did this happen? weren't you using protection?_ _ when did this happen? what were you thinking? how could you be so stupid?  
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If Orochimaru thought he had waited a long time for information from her, it seemed to Tsunade as if a veritable eternity dragged by now even though it was actually only a couple of seconds. The crickets became damnably loud in her ears and the summer air seemed heavy and thick so that she had a hard time catching her breath. He shifted slightly and she winced, waiting for him to speak, dreading having to supply answers to the questions she'd rather he left unasked._  
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But Orochimaru simply asked "What do you need me to do?"

Tsunade wiped her face with the palm of one hand and turned to look at him. "We, uh..., _I_ need to go to Ame or Kiri, to, uh..., get it taken care of. And I think...I'm supposed to have somebody with me. To help me...after..."

Orochimaru paused. Kiri or Ame? Even though it was forbidden in all the Five Nations, it was obvious that there were girls in Konoha, too. And some of those girls made mistakes so it only stood to reason there were medics who fixed those mistakes in Konoha, as well. It was only logical. Not intending to pry, simply trying to understand, he asked. "Couldn't you do this in Konoha?"

She gave a soft laugh but her voice was hoarse. "_I_, ummm.._.I_ can't do this...in Konoha. No." She shook her blond hair, shining in the moonlight. "I can't. I need to do it away somewhere. Will you come with me?"

His answer was brief. "Yes."

Relief flooded through her and she could have hugged him. But he was Orochimaru and he detested hugs. Still with that simple answer, Tsunade relaxed somewhat. She looked at him, eternally grateful, and smiled faintly. "Thanks."

"When do we need to go?"

She shrugged. "The, ah, sooner the better I suppose..." Her voice trailed off and she turned as if to leave.

Orochimaru hesitated. He had a pretty good idea as to why she wouldn't have wanted to confide in Jiraiya, the boy was insufferably nosy. But still he couldn't help think that their white-haired partner might be better at handling the emotional aspects of the situation. He tried to think of something appropriately supportive. "Tsunade? You want to stay here tonight?" he finally asked.

"No," she said, trying to sound nonchalant but her voice was quavering. "I'm kind of restless. No need in both of us being up all night. G'night Orochimaru." And she was gone.

Three days later they were heading to Kirigakure. Orochimaru had undertaken the study of Tsunade's problem the same as any other mission preparation. Ame or Kiri, Tsunade hadn't cared, she was just relieved that he was being so methodical, so very _Orochimaru_ about the whole business. Armed with a list of addresses and a three-day mission that hopefully wouldn't arouse too much suspicion plus the added luck of having Jiraiya on assignment in Grass, the two of them set out.

Along the way Tsunade seemed inclined to talk and so Orochimaru let her. Her conversation focused on her own self-described stupidity and was laced with phrases like_ how could I have been so stupid_ and _it got out of hand_ and _I should have known better._ He gleaned that the other participant might have been an older shinobi. Depending on the age difference, Orochimaru realized that it might actually even have been a crime. When he suggested that she ought to perhaps confide in their sensei she shot him a look of pure venom that would have made even Manda proud.

"Just...drop it, Orochimaru," she said, thin-lipped and angry and Orochimaru's stomach lurched over. Tsunade remained quiet the rest of the trip.

They arrived at the clinic and Tsunade was duly checked in under an assumed name. When that name was called, Orochimaru whispered, "Tsunade wait," as she rose from her chair to follow the nurse. Reaching into his pack he fumbled for a moment and then handed her an extra pair of socks. "Here," he continued in his soft voice. "I read that your feet might get cold in the stirrups."

Her face an odd mixture of embarrassment and gratitude, she accepted them and turned to follow the nurse.

The End

_**A/N:** I have no idea why I wrote this. I originally planned to do something similar for Shikamaru and Ino. However, there was just something appealing to me about setting it in the sannin's era. To an extent this has ended up being a companion piece to Conversation With Killers since it gives Tsunade a reason to hate Sarutobi and gives Orochimaru one more reason. I think Orochimaru in his own way was actually a very true friend to both his teammates in the past but then he went crazy/turned to the dark side/went evil or whatever you want to call it. Oh well, please let me know what you think. _


End file.
